Meet Free Wheelchair Mission
Free Wheelchair Mission provides the transforming gift of mobility to people
with a disability living in developing nations, as motivated by Jesus Christ.
“I will be able to go anywhere,” declared Fraser. “I am able to do things on my own, independently. I believe this wheelchair will transform my life.”
“I saw how wheelchair recipients found light, freedom, and joy, to know that as human beings, they matter and are loved.”
Chapelwood Foundation's Impact
The Foundation funded Free Wheelchair Mission $4,125 to cover the cost to manufacture, ship, and deliver 52 wheelchairs to people who would otherwise not be able to afford one. This gift would change the lives of not just the recipient, but the entire family. Now, 52 people will be able to get outside, pursue a job, go to school, attend church service, and access medical facilities. They will now be lifted into mobility and a transformed life, easing the physical, social, and economic burdens they face daily in their own communities.
Over 20 years ago, Don Schoendorfer turned his God-given and MIT-developed engineering talents to solving the problem of immobility in developing countries. There are an estimated 80 million people with disabilities in the developing world who need a wheelchair. The causes of disability range from illnesses and congenital conditions to injuries caused by accidents, landmines, and the effects of war. For many of these people, medical aid is simply not available and adaptive equipment is even scarcer. Don devised an answer to the need for mobility: a cost-efficient, durable wheelchair.
Free Wheelchair Mission recognizes mobility and provides individuals with renewed dignity and independence. The gift of a wheelchair also addresses the broader challenges handicapped people face by allowing them access to education, employment opportunities, and community engagement they might not otherwise have.
As the world’s largest nonprofit manufacturer of cost efficient wheelchairs, Free Wheelchair Mission has significantly impacted the world by distributing over 1.4 million wheelchairs to people in 95 developing countries. At just $96 per wheelchair, they have developed a system that makes simple, cost-effective, and durable wheelchairs more attainable for those in third-world countries.
The Chapelwood Foundation chose to support the Free Wheelchair Mission because everyone deserves the autonomy that comes with mobility. This organization gives people in developing countries freedom, independence, and dignity they would not otherwise have, and we are proud to partner with them.
